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Oral history interview with Goluba Bochvarska

Goluba Bochvarska, born 1931 Shtip, Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), discusses the Macedonians, Turks, Roma and Jews living together in Stip; the two Jewish families that lived in her neighborhood; life in Shtip; going to the synagogue as a child and attending weddings; attending school with two Jewish children; how when the deportation was immanent one of their Jewish neighbors came to their house to give them her daughter's dowry for safekeeping, but Goluba's parents declined the offer; having to stay inside during the deportation; seeing the Jewish houses empty and closed; how one of her Jewish neighbors made buttons out of gold to hide it from the Bulgarians; two Jews who managed to escape (Isak Sion and Mois-Mosho); hearing stories about Jews and Christian children's blood; seeing Jewish property being auctioned off; and seeing several auctions of Jewish property.

This is a witness interview of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Perpetrators, Collaborators, and Witnesses: The Jeff and Toby Herr Testimony Initiative, a multi-year project to record the testimonies of non-Jewish witnesses to the Holocaust. The interview was directed and supervised by Nathan Beyrak.

Funding Note

The production of this interview was made possible by Jeff and Toby Herr.

Gorgi Nikolov, born in 1931 in Stip in the former Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), describes the positive prewar relations between Jews, non-Jews, and other ethnic groups in Stip; the looting of Jewish shops by local civilians following the German invasion; the deportation of Jews from Stip; the involvement of Bulgarian soldiers in the guarding of the Jewish quarter during deportations; the auction of Jewish belongings at the market; and the destruction of Jewish-owned homes.

Kiril Donski, born in 1923 in Stip in the former Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), describes his prewar life Stip; the various nationalities and ethnic groups living in Stip before the war; restrictions placed on the Jews of Stip; his friendships with the Jews in Bitola; actions of Bulgarian soldiers in the deportation of Bitola’s Jews; Bulgarian soldiers and local civilians looting Jewish belongings; establishing an antifascist unit among Macedonians who were in the Bulgarian army; and how, after Bulgaria capitulated, the unit joined partisans at the Sremski Front in the fight for the liberation of Yugoslavia.

Kole Rauatkov, born in 1922 in Stip in the former Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), describes the large Jewish community in prewar Strip; his many Jewish friends before the war; the deportation of the Jews of Stip; his father’s Jewish assistant; the arrival of German forces; difficulties living under the Bulgarian occupation; the looting of Jewish belongings by Bulgarian soldiers and local townspeople; being recruited into the Bulgarian army in 1944; and joining the Partisans.

Natalija Ivanova, born in 1927 in Stip in the former Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), describes positive relationships among various nationalities and ethnic groups in prewar Stip; her mother’s use of stereotypes of and cautionary stories about Jews; the arrival of German forces who were met with a warm reception by locals; the Bulgarian occupation of Stip; the collaboration of many Stip citizens with the Bulgarian authorities; her attendance at school in Kumanovo; the deportation of the city’s Jews; the destruction of the Jewish quarter; the auction of Jewish belongings; how few people were punished for collaborating with the Bulgarians after the war; and the effects of the Holocaust on her family.

Aleksandar Andov, born in 1934 in Stip in the former Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), describes his father’s business relations with the Jewish community; his father’s best friend who was Jewish; the Bulgarian Army’s involvement in the deportation of the Jewish population of Stip; the auction of Jewish belongings; the destruction of Jewish homes; and the aftermath of the war.

Konstantin Mitrev, born in 1935 in Stip in the former Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), describes the different nationalities living in prewar Stip; antisemitic stories told by local Macedonians; living in the Jewish quarter; his family’s many Jewish acquaintances; the deportation of the Jewish population by Bulgarian policemen; the looting of Jewish homes by Bulgarians and local townspeople; how local townspeople were supposed to give looted Jewish belongings to the Bulgarians so the items could be sold; the commission, headed by a Macedonian, set up to search for stolen Jewish belongings; Macedonian surnames being changed to Bulgarian during occupation; the introduction of the Bulgarian language in schools and public places; and the how few of the Jews of Stip survived after their deportation.

Ljubica Mitkova, born in 1921 in Stip in the former Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), describes antisemitic stories told by local townspeople; her acquaintances within the Jewish community; how local townspeople welcomed the Bulgarian occupation, but the Jewish population feared the Bulgarians; how Jews gave many of their expensive belonging to Macedonians prior to being deported; the participation of local townspeople in the deportation of the Jewish community; the looting of Jewish-owned shops by local townspeople; and the selling of Jewish belongings in the market.

Gjorgi Dimovski, born in 1929 in Bitola in the former Yugoslavia, describes his family life and life in Bitola before the war; anti-Jewish propaganda which made him initially fear Jews; the poverty of the Bitola Jews; befriending a Jewish boy in 1938 which alleviated his fear of Jews; his father’s refusal to let him join a fascist children’s organization; the certainty by Jews that the Bulgarians would protect them; restrictions placed on the Jews; the deportation of the Jews in 1943 by the Bulgarian police and army; the selling of looted Jewish belongings; his father moving his business into a formerly Jewish shop; some families in Bitola who hid Jews; and public trials of war criminals after the war.

Dimitar Kotevski, born in 1926 in Bitola in the former Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), describes the good relations between the Jews and non-Jews of Bitola before the war; restrictions placed on the Jews during the Bulgarian occupation; how the Jews thought they would be protected by the Bulgarians; how the Communist Party warned Jews about deportations; the escape of some Jews to Albania and to Sofia in Bulgaria; restrictions placed on the Jewish population; the deportation of the Jews by Bulgarian police and soldiers; life under Bulgarian occupation; the looting of Jewish homes by the local townspeople and Bulgarians; the introduction of the Bulgarian language into schools; and the aftermath of the war.

Dimitar Takec, born in 1922 in Bitola in the former Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), describes his family and their shared musical and cultural life with the Jewish community; his Jewish friends; antisemitic rumors spread by local townspeople; conditions for Jews during the Bulgarian occupation, including the requirement that they move to the Jewish quarter; antifascist fighting starting in 1942; suspicion by Jews that they would be deported; many of his Jewish friends joining the Partisans; the deportation of the Jews in 1943 by Bulgarians; the looting of Jewish belongings by Bulgarian police and agents; joining the Partisans; his time in prison; and the aftermath of the war.

Tome Micevski, born in 1922 in Bitola, Macedonia, discusses his memory of peaceful relationships between Jews, Turks, Russians, and other nationalities prior to the war; his Jewish school friends; a popular rumor spread by local Macedonians that Jews were killing Christian children; the Bulgarian occupation which many saw as liberation from Serbian authorities; being forced to join the Bulgarian Army in Kavala, Greece in 1943; his time in officer school in Bulgaria; how his entire unit deserted the Bulgarian Army and joined the partisans; serving as a commander of an artillery unit in1944; seeing the bodies of civilians in burned villages while with partisans in Strumica, Macedonia; witnessing the shooting of a partisan by others in his unit because the man visited his family without permission; conflicts with pro-fascist groups throughout the former Yugoslavia; and the killing of approximately 4,000 Ustasha in a conflict with Albanian partisans.

Miodrag Shavrek, born in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), discusses living in Kumanovo at the beginning of the war; the bombing of his house in April 1941 and his family’s relocation to Skopje; his Jewish friend who escaped to Albania before the deportation; Bulgarians identifying Jewish-owned homes with special signs; the blockade of Monopol by Bulgarian forces; the search of residences by local police; throwing bread to Jews who were detained in a yard; the deportation of Jews from Monopol who were taken away in cattle wagons; empty Jewish shops; and reports that formerly Jewish-owned homes were given to refugees from western Macedonia.

Cvetan Todorovski, born in 1926 in Skopje, Macedonia, discusses his family’s friendship with a neighboring Jewish family; restrictions during the Bulgarian occupation; his forced recruitment into army train maintenance work; Jewish homes being identified with special signs; adult Jews being forced to wear yellow Star of David badges; the blockade of the city; the deportation of his Jewish neighbors to Monopol; seeing Jews being kept in a yard at Monopol; seeing Bulgarian police forcing Jews into cattle wagons at the train station; and the looting of Jewish belongings.

Tome Nikolovski, born in 1931 in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), discusses his prewar Jewish neighbors and the peaceful relationships between Jews and non-Jews; a popular rumor spread by some Macedonians that Jews were killing Christian children; the arrival of German forces and the bombardment of the city; restrictions placed on Jews during the Bulgarian occupation; anti-Jewish propaganda in newspapers; the closing of Jewish stores; the deportation of Jews from Skopje; seeing Bulgarian police taking Jews on horse carts to Monopol; the looting of Jewish belongings by police and local citizens; and the use of synagogues as storage facilities for Jewish belongings.

Jovan Cvetkovski, born in 1931 in Skopje, Macedonia, discusses a transport of Jews to Monopol (state tobacco monopoly warehouse), organized by Bulgarian police and soldiers; Macedonians selling food to Jewish prisoners in exchange for gold; watching Jews board cattle wagons headed out of Monopol; jumping onto a cattle wagon with his friends to see where the Jews were being taken and to possibly stop it; Jewish belongings being given to western Macedonian refugees; his family hiding communists in their home; and the lack of Jews in Skopje following the deportations.

Rade Burchevski, born in 1923 in Rudnik Velesko, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), discusses joining the resistance in 1941 following the Bulgarian occupation; his involvement with partisans, fighting against the Bulgarian police; his arrest and incarceration in Skopje after being betrayed by an acquaintance in 1942; escaping from an execution site near Veles; hiding in a stable in his village; being incarcerated in Veles and then in Skopje; being beaten by the head of the Skopje police; the execution of Macedonian partisan Pero Naumov; being sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Bulgarian judge; making a deal with prison guards that led to his escape to the partisans; fighting alongside partisans in Macedonia and Kosovo; trials of those caught by partisans; and seeing burned villages and the bodies of civilians in Kosovo in the village of Pasjane.

Trajko Stamatoski, born in 1925 in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), discusses his prewar friendships with Jewish classmates and his father’s Jewish business partners; peaceful relationships between Jews and Macedonians before the war; a popular rumor about Jews killing Christian children; restrictions placed on Jews during the Bulgarian occupation; the order for Jews to wear Star of David badges; Jews who were in hiding before the start of deportations; his father denying to hide a Jewish friend’s belongings in fear of reprisals from authorities; the city-wide blockade; Bulgarian soldiers searching his house during deportations; his participation in the SKOJ; the lack of Jews in Skopje following deportations; the looting of Jewish-owned belongings; refugees from western Macedonia moving into formerly Jewish-owned homes; and joining the partisans and fighting in the battle for Skopje in 1944.

Trajko Grujoski, born in 1921 in Rakovo (Krateró), Greece, discusses being raised in Bitola, Macedonia; his Jewish childhood friends in Bitola; the large prewar Jewish population in Bitola; peaceful relations between Jews and non-Jews; the early German occupation of Bitola; changes and restrictions for Jews under the Bulgarian occupation; the establishment of the Jewish quarter; the belief among Jews that they would live under Bulgarian protection; joining the partisans in 1942 and serving with Jewish partisan Beno Ruso; the difficulty for Jews to join partisan units which were poorly organized; managing the Bitola SKOJ; the arrest of many of Bitola’s communists; Bulgarian proclamations in local newspapers for the death of partisans; his father and brother being taken to a camp in Skocivar because of his association with communists; witnessing an execution of a partisan accused of being a Bulgarian spy; staying in liberated territory as a communist commissar; and his participation on a commission looking into why so few Macedonian Jews were saved.

Vancho Saldzievski, born in 1924 in Veles, Macedonia, discusses moving to Skopje, Macedonia after the bombing of his family’s home; the large western Macedonian refugee population in Kiselavoda; the political organizations in his school, which included SKOJ (communist youth) and BRANIK (pro-Bulgarian; his responsibility as a SKOJ member to notify Jews of danger and encourage them to join a partisan unit; his arrest and beating by Bulgarian policeman; seeing Bulgarian police and army soldiers guarding Jews in the yard at Monopol; joining the partisans in April 1944 and witnessing the execution of two partisans after they left their brigade; participating in talks with Macedonian Chetniks; and the search for and executions of Ballists and Bulagarians in western Macedonia.

Bistrica Mirkolovska, born in 1930 in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), discusses her father, who took her out of school at the beginning of the war because he did not want her to study under Bulgarian influence; Jewish school friends whom she believes might have been deported to Treblinka; the German invasion; her father’ s enlistment in the army in Kriva Palanka; seeing Germans transporting captured Yugoslavian soldiers; being treated as lower status because of her father’s opposition to the Bulgarian occupation; Bulgarians labeling houses as Jewish or Macedonian; the closing of Jewish stores and transfer of ownership to Bulgarians; seeing Jews wearing Star of David badges; the escape of some wealthy Jewish families to Albania; the deportation of Jewish families in March 1943, led by Bulgarian soldiers and some civilians; the blockade of the city during deportations; and her cousin Zora, who aided the ill son of her Jewish employer by sneaking the child from the hospital to a Catholic monastery where Zora and he stayed until the end of the war.

Gjorgi Popovski, born in Seres, Greece in 1933, discusses his family’s good relations with their Jewish neighbors; his father’s store; seeing the Jews wearing arm bands; being mistakenly taken during a roundup and being rescued by his mother; seeing his neighbors being taken away; Jews carrying parcels with them during the deportations; seeing Bulgarian soldiers; and moving to Bulgaria in 1944 then Skopje, Macedonia in 1945.

Boris Georgiev, born in 1934 in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), discusses the Jewish quarter in Skopje before the war; seeing the Jews being taken to the Monopol tobacco depot by truck during the Axis occupation; details on the Jews who were sent deported from Skopje and the Bulgarian soldiers leading them; the uniforms of the Bulgarian soldiers; and the round symbol Jews were forced to wear.

Ljupcho Filipovski, born in 1933 in Belgrade, Serbia, describes the bombing of Belgrade; his father’s food store and their numerous Jewish customers; the stars Jews were forced to wear on their clothing; moving with his family to Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia) in 1942; his interactions with Bulgarian soldiers; selling fruit to Germans; the two neighborhoods housing Jews in Skopje; his Jewish friends (Predrag Kenig, Hudijan Hamparcumpar and Armagijan); seeing the Monopol transit camp, where there were German and Bulgarian soldiers; the uniforms of the soldiers; and the signs on Jewish houses that read “Judish” or “Juden.”

Milan Terzovski, born in 1930 in Kumanovo, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), describes his Jewish neighbors, with whom they hid during the bombings; watching as a Bulgarian policemen accused his brother of being a Serb sympathizer and took him away; going to Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia) often to visit a friend; being mistaken as a Jew and taken to the Monopol transit camp by two Bulgarian policemen; the room inside Monopol; sleeping on straw and not being given anything to eat or drink; the Jews in the camp and how they had to wear yellow stars; being rescued by his sister after one or two days; and the differences between Bulgarian military and police uniforms.

Vera Krstevska, born in 1930 in Bitola, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), describes life in Bitola before and during WWII; her Jewish friend Rebeka; her family’s good relations with Jews in Bitola; Jews being forced to wear yellow stars and follow a curfew; witnessing a deportation of Jews on a night in March 1943; her family’s shop in the city center; learning Bulgarian in school and understanding the Bulgarian soldiers deporting the Jews; watching as a Jewish child dropped a jar spilling out hidden money that was then taken by a soldier; the closing of Jewish homes and shops after the deportation; the selling of Jewish property in an auction soon after and buying a pillow during the auction; helping the partisans; the division in her family between their loyalty to the partisans and the Bulgarians; and her uncle’s murder by the partisans because he collaborated with the Bulgarians.

Aleksandar Nikolovski, born March 9, 1936 in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), describes his mother, who worked as an apprentice to a Jewish seamstress; how at the beginning of the war, his mother was left alone after his father left for the army and they received a lot of help from Jews; his Jewish classmates; Jews being forced to wear yellow markings on their sleeves; living next to the Monopol tobacco depot and visiting the Monopol often; witnessing the Jews being taken to the Monopol and seeing several escape; getting water to the Jews in Monopol; watching as the Jews were beaten and forced onto trains labeled BGZ (Bulgarian State Railway Company); going to Monopol after the Jews were deported and seeing scattered belongings; being forced by Bulgarian soldiers to collect items out of a pool at Monopol; the differences between German and Bulgarian uniforms; and hearing of several rape attempts.

Milka Nicheva, born January 1, 1935 in Shtip, Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), discusses the Jews in their community; her Jewish friend, who had to wear a yellow badge with a black frame; the curfews and restrictions placed on Jews; her memories of the blockade and the deportation of Jews; a teacher (Latinka Prilepchanska) who had to go to the train station to take the Jews' jewelry; the looting and auctioning off of Jewish property; Bulgarians moving into the homes of deported Jews; the looting of her father’s sweets shop by the Germans in 1941; the bombings; and the destruction of the Jewish quarter.

Dimitar Andonov, born September 26, 1926 in Shtip, Yugoslavia (now Stip, Macedonia), describes the various nationalities living together in Shtip before the war, including Serbs, Macedonians, Albanians, and Jews; his Jewish friends and playing in the Jewish neighborhood; Jews being forced to wear yellow stars; the bombing of 1941 and the looting; the German and Bulgarian soldiers; attending school with Jews; his father’s metal workshop and having numerous Jewish contacts; a Jew who escaped during the deportation (Mois-Mosho); being recruited by the Bulgarians to tear down Jewish houses; and his work demolishing a house.

Vera Spasova, born in 1935 in Bitola, Yugoslavia (now in Macedonia), describes the Jewish community in Bitola; living in a house overlooking from a close distance the street where the column of Jews were being taken to the train station; not recognizing any of the Jews being rounded up; seeing men, women, and children with bags and hearing some screaming; Doctor Abravanel, who was not deported; Jews having to wear a sign on their clothes; and seeing the auctioning of Jewish property with her mother.

Learn about over 1,000 camps and ghettos in Volume I and II of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free PDF download. This reference provides text, photographs, charts, maps, and extensive indexes.